Deliberative Opinion Poll - Applications

Applications

PBS has worked with Fishkin via the By the People Program on several deliberative opinion polls, including in 2004 when it sponsored several regional deliberative polls around topics related to the 2004 national elections. In June 2011 PBS joined him in hosting What's Next California poll, with the results intend to inform a future California ballot initiative.

A group at Carnegie Mellon University has been working on the creation of tools for online deliberative polls. Their first tool is an Adobe Connect-based discussion tool called PICOLA.

Fishkin and Yale Law Professor Bruce Ackerman have proposed a national holiday called Deliberation Day to allow voters to gather in large and small groups to discuss political issues.

Recently, PASOK held a deliberative poll to elect the party's candidate for the municipality of Amaroussion.

Issues Deliberation Australia/America, a political psychology think-tank, has worked with the Australian government to use deliberative polling for several important local and national issues, including the referendum on becoming a republic in 1999.

Deliberative polls have been held in China for over five years. The coastal township of Zeguo in Wenling city has a population of 120,000. Fishkin's team selects 175 people who are representative of the general population. Deliberative polling takes place over a 3-day period, and the local government utilizes the priorities of the group. The experiment worked so well that the topic expanded from a single issue the first year (prioritizing public works projects) to the entire budget, and the Chinese are considering the process in other municipalities.

Between 1996 and 2007, Fishkin managed deliberative opinion polls for a syndicate of Texas utilities. The group's recommendations shifted their focus toward wind power, and the vast majority of customers agreed that it was worth the higher cost.


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